Great Britain

It could have been gold, but Team GB's Joe Joyce had to settle for silver in his super heavyweight showdown with France's Tony Yoka on the final day of eventing at the Olympic Games on Sunday.

Joyce taking gold at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro would have been the perfect ending for British athletes after a fortnight of success in Brazil. Still, with a silver medal around his neck, Joyce's efforts were fitting as the last honour for Team GB in what has been a heavyweight Olympics from their perspective.

Britain finished second in the medals table behind USA. It means a country of just over 64 million inhabitants has toppled the might of China, who boast more than a billion and had to settle for third.

That is Herculean in every sense. Much like what we have seen from Joyce in Brazil.

The 30-year-old has enjoyed an incredible past fortnight or so. He has boxed well and carried the Union flag into his gold-medal match with aplomb. He has looked every bit the powerhouse we expect from those in his division.

Heavyweights are supposed to be the guys throwing the big shots, landing them and causing their opponents pain. The division may not be as fluid as those further down the weight brackets, but it's the power that sucks us in. We relish hearing the sound of cracked leather as it lands with a thud.

Joyce has lived up to that with his performances, just like Anthony Joshua, who won gold in the same weight class as compatriot back at the London Games in 2012. Since then, he has gone on to become a world champion in the professional ranks and is now one of Britain's leading men in the ring.

His words for Joyce landed as accurately as one of his jabs on Sunday.

"I have never seen a heavyweight throw so many punches," Joshua said to BBC Sport of Joyce's performance against Yoka, believing the gold medal was awarded to the wrong fighter.

"Joe was aggressive, making the fight, and for me he is Olympic champion. In spirit he is champion."

It's apt that Joshua should talk about spirit where Joyce is concerned, as he's an athlete who embodies that Olympic flavour we champion every four years. Joyce isn't just a silver medalist, but a fighter who has done things the hard way.

Indeed, look at his life outside of the ring, and boxing isn't what immediately comes to mind. Joyce has a fine art degree and is a keen painter. Add to that the fact he was once a cheerleader and we get an idea for a man who is the antithesis of what stereotypes tell us we should be looking for in a boxer.

"I did a student exchange in America in my third at university, which was for a whole semester," Joyce told the Official Team GB Guide to Rio 2016 earlier this summer. Having decided against continuing in athletics, he had taken up boxing for a brief spell, but being stateside had meant he couldn't continue the sport.

So from throwing punches in the ring, he was suddenly throwing cheerleaders into the air.

"I did my major at Sacramento State and did not box at all—in fact, I did cheerleading," he continued. "I wanted to do some sort of gymnastics and got chatting to someone there, and she invited me along to practice. The first move they taught me was the chair—the one where you throw the girl up and catch her with one hand. I thought, 'OK, this is alright.'"

So far as backstories go, there aren't many that can top Joyce's for the bizarre. His journey to the Rio Games was never one that was mapped out from the start, which is why it is so enticing.

When we think about some of the gold medals that Team GB secured in Brazil, it sort of fits the bill. The respective paths to greatness were different, yet plenty of GB's finest were doing the unexpected.

Max Whitlock was never fancied to win two golds in the space of an hour of gymnastics sessions on the pommel horse and floor, but he did. Jack Laugher and Chris Mears weren't supposed to be gold medalists in diving, but they were. They became the first Britons to ever achieve that feat in the sport, too.

The same goes for Jade Jones, who has now won back-to-back taekwondo gold medals. We also saw Team GB's women take top spot in the hockey and the Brownlee brothers completely dominate the men's triathlon event.

As a team, Great Britain surpassed what they achieved in London. That was a home Games, and the 65 medals back then—29 gold, 17 silver and 19 bronze—were supposed to be the pinnacle. Yet here we are now, with GB second in Rio with their medal count up to a phenomenal 67. This time it was 27 golds, 23 silver and 17 bronze.

That is super and it's just as much heavyweight. Joe Joyce officially ended Team GB's Rio interests, and the honour couldn't have fallen to a more suitable athlete.

Has there ever been an easier medal won at an Olympic Games?

Nicola Adams successfully defended her flyweight gold medal on Saturday, defeating France's Sarah Ourahmoune by a unanimous points decision. Her victory helped in bringing Team GB's gold medal count at Rio 2016 up to 26 on the penultimate day of competition.

It makes Adams the first Briton since 1924 to achieve such a feat in Olympic boxing by defending her title.

"The gold rush continues," a delighted Adams said after, per BBC Sport. "I can't believe it. I am now officially our most accomplished amateur boxer ever, and it is such an amazing feeling.

"It takes a lot to win an Olympic medal, and I would just like to thank everybody."

Adams is right; winning any medal at the Olympics, be it gold, silver or bronze, is an amazing achievement for athletes who compete at the Games. For many sportsmen and women, it's the pinnacle of their sports, so victory comes with a level of prestige that is unrivaled.

Adams has done everything asked of her. She arrived in Rio with big pressure on her shoulders after her exploits at London 2012. Since then, she has become a world champion, too, so the height of expectation was increased.

But she lived up to her billing and beat everyone put in front of her. Adams had fought a mere three bouts, though.

The 33-year-old found herself put immediately into the quarter-final of the flyweight boxing, where she breezed past Tetyana Kob of Ukraine. The fight came on the 11th day of the Olympics, and it was the 21st session of boxing by that stage.

She had a long wait, yet the action was just as short. Blink and you would have missed her in the ring.

Excuse the pun, but Adams' Olympic success has been smash and grab. It's worked like her tactics in the ring: She leads with a quick jab to counter an opponent, lands a punch and is gone just as quick.

Waiting until the second week of competition at Rio 2016, she's been a fleeting presence in the ring.

Winning her opening fight, Adams was guaranteed a medal after just one outing. At the Olympics, the losing semi-finalists are guaranteed a bronze. Adams could have packed up and gone home there and then if medaling in Brazil was her sole purpose.

Being a fierce competitor who has made a big impact in women's sports, let alone just boxing, simply medaling wasn't her goal. She defeated Chinese boxer Ren Cancan to set up her gold medal match with Ourahmoune, which she subsequently won 3-0.

Success for Adams may have been another bonus for Team GB, yet the whole schedule has made a mockery of what an Olympic medal is all about. Adams has hardly broken a sweat in claiming her gold.

She shouldn't be worried by that. Scheduling and planning events isn't her concern. It's the boxing authorities at Rio 2016 who must hold their heads in shame.

How can a gold medal come along so cheap? Across the Olympics we have witnessed mammoth battles for athletes to claim their medals. We've seen the open-water swimming, where swimmers battle over 10 tiring kilometres for the right to be named champion.

In cycling, there are rounds of riding around the velodrome track at paces that cyclists have to negotiate before the medals are given out. In rowing, competitors have to put their bodies through grueling heats just to reach the final—before they have do it all again.

Even in boxing we've seen plenty of fights before gold medalists were named. For Adams, it's almost been a breeze.

Fighting just three times for gold—remember it was just one victory for a guaranteed bronze—is a shambles for what the Olympics is all about. There would have been no shortage of endeavour from Adams as she trained for the event, but getting to Rio is where the work has effectively stopped.

It should've been the other way around—getting to Rio is when it should have become serious for Adams. It's when she should have needed to up her work rate and get her game face on. Instead, a trio of bouts to claim a gold has made it seem easy for her.

Sure, being in the ring and actually doing it is something else completely. Writing about it is the easy part, but where was the competition? The Olympics are supposed to be the pinnacle, yet there has been nothing in front of Adams to make her really work for it.

As the athlete who competed, Adams is deserving of every bit of praise that comes her way. She's a double Olympic champion, and she has her place in history with it. When she holds that medal up next her to gold from London 2012, it isn't going to have the same sparkle, though. It's going to have the appearance of what it is: a fugazi.

Eight games, eight wins. Team GB's women proved themselves deserved winners of the gold medal in the hockey at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games when they defeated the Netherlands on Friday.

They had a few wobbles along the way, but Danny Kerry's side were a dominant force from the first stroke of their sticks in Brazil. They looked well prepared, primed and ready for glory; they looked very un-British.

Perhaps that's a contradiction when we consider just how well British athletes have competed in Rio. On Day 14 of the Games, Team GB's hockey gold was their 24th. Backed up with silver and bronze success across the Games, their medal haul was a combined 60 in Rio to leave them second only to the might of the U.S. in the table.

Indeed, they have surpassed all expectation to put British sport back on the map. It was one thing to be successful at home Games in London four years ago, quite another to travel to Brazil and top that success like they are doing.

Here are our ladies collecting their prize! 😍#GOLD #Rio2016 #BringOnTheGreat https://t.co/KUICNprmwv

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 19, 2016

The stigmas that surround British sport are being broken down with each passing day at the Olympics. For so long the nearly men and women, their efforts being praised for bravery more than success, it seems the tides are turning.

There is a real substance to what we've seen this past fortnight, and the women's hockey team backed it all up with their historic gold. No British hockey team in the history of the Olympics had ever won a gold medal and now they have. The barrier has been broken.

It wasn't that inaugural hockey success that was being marveled, though, but more the way in which the GB players went about their business. With all the pressure on them, Team GB faced up to it all. They sucked it up, drew a deep breath and got on with the job at hand. It seemed all very pragmatic, despite the dramas that developed on the pitch.

https://twitter.com/CliveWoodward/status/766766037647982592

And yes, Britain won their hockey gold by way of a penalty shootout having drawn 3-3 with the Netherlands in normal time. Without leaning on stereotypes too much—or cliches for that matter—it's not often we can say that about a British team. It's normally when penalties are signaled that the dream is ended. Just ask football fans—English, Scottish, Northern Irish or Welsh—and they will all sympathise.

It's not just the national teams that have failed but club teams also. Sure, there are times when teams have bucked the trend, but the true grit to face the adversity of a shootout has been missing in more recent times.

As teams, Brits can compete, although when it comes down to the nitty gritty of a one-on-one sudden death situation, more often than that they crumble. It wasn't so for Team GB's hockey stars; they reveled in the occasion and took it to the Netherlands on Friday to win 2-0 in their shootout and take gold.

It’s Olympic GOLD!

Proud of our team.

Proud of our sport.

Proud of our future. pic.twitter.com/DqHkNS2ffK

— Great Britain Hockey (@GBHockey) August 19, 2016

It wasn't just in the shootout, either. Twice they had trailed in the game and on each occasion they clawed their way back to parity on the scoreboard. For the second goal, it was almost instantly after going behind.

The players showed a faith in how they had prepared for the Rio Games. When things went wrong, they didn't panic; they stuck to the game plan, remembering what they had worked on and how to overcome it.

That says plenty about the coaches and their preparation. So much about success and failure in elite sport comes in the psychological approach, trusting your convictions and being tuned in. That comes with training and creating an environment where players can focus and remain switched on.

The Football Association are currently undergoing another review of why the English football team failed at another international tournament this summer. Rather than look at their own shortcomings, perhaps they should start with Team GB as a whole and ask why it is that British athletes are looking so dominant in Brazil this summer—the very country where their own footballers crashed and burned just two years ago.

Because it's not just hockey. We've seen success in athletics with Jessica Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah and also in the velodrome, where British cyclists destroyed the competition. What's been most striking, however, is how the fringe sports have performed. In gymnastics, diving and now hockey, medals aren't just being won, but history is being made.

The Team GB women, the likes of Max Whitlock and diving pair Jack Laugher and Chris Mears, have set new standards. In doing so, Britain has created a generation of trailblazers who are promoting the virtues of British sport. Britain is being taken seriously again.

https://twitter.com/damekellyholmes/status/766755820277235712

This hasn't happened by accident. It's by having the right infrastructure to allow these gymnasts, hockey players and divers to flourish. The funding has been a big part of it, but more than anything it's the coaching. Team GB have got the right people in place, and that basic principle is making them a force to be reckoned with on the international stage.

It was a wonderful display of machismo and desire from the GB women as they took hockey gold. Who will be next?

This is what Olympic sport is all about.

Just when we thought we had seen it all at Rio 2016, the Brownlee brothers rocked up for the triathlon and wrote their own script for the Olympic Games on Thursday.

Not only did Alistair defend his gold medal from London 2012 to become the first triathlete in the history of Olympic sport to achieve such a feat, younger brother Jonny secured a silver. The Brownlees became the first brothers to win a gold-silver combo in the same Olympic event since 1960.

It's an incredible feat, making history and rewriting it all in one afternoon's worth of competition. You don't witness that too often.

That isn't the story here, though. What really strikes a chord is the family ties. It's quite the feat for two world-class sportsmen to emerge from the same family. And not only that, but in the same sport where they constantly push each other to success and set the bar for their rivals.

We did it pic.twitter.com/GQRg5v5cKu

— Alistair Brownlee (@AliBrownleetri) August 18, 2016

The Brownlees are the stars of the triathlon, and they showed up in Rio to prove it.

The scenes inside the velodrome on Tuesday, when Laura Trott embraced fiance Jason Kenny after his keirin success, was heartwarming. It tugged at the heartstrings as she cried when celebrating his crossing the finish line in first, yet the Brownlees have smashed that out of the Olympic Park. It's the picture of the pair, brothers in arms on their backs and completely exhausted just after passing the finishing line, that is going to resonate.

Alistair had crossed the line to be crowned Olympic champion after 1:45:01 of racing, with Jonny just six seconds behind. The former had already fallen to his knees, draped in the union flag he had taken from a spectator, before lowering the rest of his body to the floor. Then Jonny joined him to celebrate.

They lay there, drinking it in. Looking up at the clear blue skies above Rio, they embraced. The brothers had taken one and two at the Olympic Games. Their parents were in the crowd watching, just adding to the sense of occasion.

It was like something from a Bruce Springsteen song, putting the romance into action. "Just one kiss from you my brother and we'll [run] until we fall," we can imagine Alistair and Jonny promising before they dart off into the sea at Copacabana Beach to get their race started.

Even the weather had a hint of Springsteen about it. "Where the sun could break through the clouds and fall like a circle, like a circle of fire down on this hard land."

Listening to The Boss, he creates worlds and narratives that seem unattainable. There's the sense of the American dream gone bad in songs such as Stolen Car and Racing in the Street, yet he equally creates a feeling of nostalgia that stirs the emotions.

He speaks of good times, longing for the memories that will serve a generation. He remembers your sister "calling us home, across the open yard" and the glory days that define us all.

Springsteen's songs feed the subconscious to create these emotions as we long for something tangible to define us. Ultimately it's the ideals of romance and comfort that fuel the desire.

Swim. 🏊 Cycle. 🚴 Run. 🏃 Medals. 🏅 Repeat.
Business as usual for @alibrownleetri and @jonny_brownlee. #SpeedTakes pic.twitter.com/NraB0iIHs4

— adidas UK (@adidasUK) August 18, 2016

Few us of ever realise what he signs about, and it's why we return to his music as a course of comfort. Hearing another voice share the same emotion puts the listener at ease. For the Brownlees, they are living those songs. Their blood is mixed, and they're on the Olympic stage together acting it out.

When we saw the Brownlees crashed out in Rio, it was a moment Springsteen could have created himself. It wasn't being played out with a sepia filter; it was more glorious technicolour with the high-definition cameras and Rio sun the backdrop.

But the moment was all there. It was laid bare for a global audience in the millions. It was two brothers sealing a bond that is unique the world over.

Had it been two British athletes going through it all, it would have been exciting enough. That the pair have been doing this together since they can remember and share DNA is just incredible.

It's the story of Rio 2016.

With 19 gold medals to their name, the 2016 Rio Olympic Games is already the most successful overseas Olympics ever for Great Britain.

Team GB currently sit second in the medal table behind USA, with 50 medals and counting. That total is completed by 19 silver and 12 bronze added to those golds.

Like the 2012 London Games, it's been a formidable performance from the Brits. But on foreign soil, this was never expected. The hope was that Team GB could go some way in repeating their form from four years ago, yet at this rate, they may well even surpass what they achieved in London: 29 gold, 17 silver and 19 bronze for a total of 65 medals.

It's all meant that British sport hasn't felt so healthy. In a variety of sports we are seeing British champions, and they're even making their way into sports where they have traditionally struggled. Take diving and gymnastics, where gold medals have been won for the first time in Rio.

The success of gymnast Max Whitlock and diving pair Jack Laugher and Chris Mears has broken new ground for Britain. The success they have enjoyed has been incredible and helped gather momentum.

We've also seen the unbelievable exploits in the velodrome as Britain dominated track cycling. From a possible 10 golds that were available, Team GB took six. In total they racked up 11 medals on the track—which is over 20 per cent of Britain's haul to date.

To emphasise how impressive the Team GB cyclists were, no other country won more than two medals inside the velodrome. They were well and truly blown away.

For all this success we're seeing Britain reveling in now, it raises the question of how else they can improve at the Olympics. For a country with a population of 60 million, there's only so far Britain can go, regardless of funding.

Already they seem to be punching above their weight with the resources available. Against the might of China and the U.S, Britons are making a name for themselves.

They do have a problem moving forward, though, in that the Olympics are largely made up of sports that sit outside of the mainstream. They take a particular set of skills to develop and become a champion, and Britain can't keep unearthing them every four years or so. The law of averages tells us it can't happen.

Niche sports are always competing with the attraction of those with more profile, such as football, tennis and rugby. Forget about at an elite level, it's at a grassroots level where the next Olympic champions are going to be discovered, and with so much interest in those popular disciplines, it whittles down the talent pool that sports can select from.

Despite being the success it is, cycling will always have to fight hard to feed the next generation. To reach the top takes so much dedication and physical endeavour that transferring interest into something tangible is difficult. And whereas football fans can pick up a ball and get training, cycling requires much more investment.

The same goes for diving and gymnastics, where Britain continue to improve, but are not as well-stocked as some of the other countries they compete against.

Gold medals have also been won in athletics, tennis, golf, canoeing, rowing—where Britain have been traditionally strong—equestrian and sailing at Rio. Aside from the first two on that list, attracting enough rising sportsmen and women to take up the discipline is an arduous task.

There's the question of funding but also a desire from individuals. To be a top canoeist requires complete dedication; the athletes aren't paid the vast sums we see in other sports, and outside of an Olympic year, the truth is that it barely registers with the public.

With so much competition in other sports where Britain haven't medaled, the competition is tough. There are even sports where they are not represented at Rio, such as basketball and handball.

In order to grow as an Olympic power and even consider challenging the U.S. and their dominance in the medal table, it's those sort of sports where Britain must not just improve, but create a culture for domestically. It's from there that success can be harnessed.

But how far can one country grow? How much can they squeeze from a population that is already seemingly producing more champions than should be expected?

Is Rio as good as it gets for the Brits? Are we witnessing a moment in time that will go on to define British sport for generations?

It's going to be a tough Olympics to beat, that's for sure.

Even BBC Sport hasn't been embarrassed to admit it.

Moments after the highlights package that showed Jack Laugher's performance in the three-meter springboard final on Tuesday, TV presenter Clare Balding was quick to enthusiastically remind viewers of when they can catch a glimpse of the "better-known Tom Daley" later this week.

It was a moment that summed up the problem with sport; too often we celebrate brands and not success.

It's not Daley's fault that he is the poster boy of British diving. Enjoying a rapid rise as a teenager, his profile has helped raise the sport's image and delivered it to the consciousness of millions of Britons.

The Medal Man strikes again! @JackLaugher shows off his #Rio2016 3M Springboard #Silver. #BringOnTheGreat #TeamGB pic.twitter.com/lXuxQLcvaY

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 16, 2016

But heading into the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, his record on the biggest stage wasn't exactly outstanding. Prior to Rio, Daley had just one bronze to his name, won in the 10-meter platform at the 2012 London Games. He's added to that in Brazil with another bronze, this time in the 10-meter synchronised dive.

Laugher has never been too far behind Daley with his exploits at World Championships and the Commonwealth Games. Now in Rio, he has made history as Team GB's first-ever gold medallist in diving when he took the top prize with his diving partner, Chris Mears, in the three-meter synchronised springboard last week.

It was an incredible achievement; an equally impressive performance to take the Olympic crown.

But still the buzz is about Daley, who has come nowhere near achieving what Laugher has at the Olympics. The latter's silver medal on Tuesday makes him arguably one of his country's finest-ever Olympians, and yet fans of diving—new and old—are being fed a diet of Daley.

Laugher's tally of two medals isn't what impresses most about him; those stats are irrelevant here. If we're talking those sort of statistics, he's never going to compare with any of the cyclists such as Sir Chris Hoy, Sir Bradley Wiggins or Jason Kenny, who have been serial winners in the velodrome or on the road.

The likes of Victoria Pendleton, Laura Trott and Joanna Rowsell also have multiple Olympic golds to their name on the bike, reinforcing what a fine cycling team Team GB have nurtured since the Beijing Games.

Laugher stands out as he's making history in his sport, though. He's pushing back the boundaries and giving Britain a standing in a place where they have never really had one. Bucking the trend takes character and no shortage of talent. And history always remembers; being the first by default puts an athlete in the rank of the greatest.

Whereas Daley may well have been a trailblazer coming through the junior ranks and the early days of his senior career, winning what he has in Rio, Laugher blows Daley's achievements out of the water.

It is good! Back 3.5 Somersaults nailed, 88.20...@JackLaugher has another #Rio2016 medal, but which? #Diving #TeamGB pic.twitter.com/fe1LFSCEz7

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 16, 2016

And for a sport as niche as diving, Laugher and his teammate Mears are now setting the tone. So why aren't they being celebrated in the same way we see Daley's name being pushed? Why wasn't Laugher's three-meter springboard final as actively pushed as Daley's?

A big part of it is the PR machine. Daley has been the familiar face since before the London Games, and regardless of what he achieves off the board, his name and face carries a brand. Casual observers see him and immediately associate with aquatics.

Isn't about time that changed? Shouldn't we be celebrating and actively promoting greatness? Shouldn't the biggest stars actually be those who win the most important medals, namely the golds?

That's what Laugher has done in Rio, yet he's hardly recognisable, and the publicity he receives—or lack thereof—isn't going to change that any time soon. It doesn't seem to fit the billing that he's a relative unknown and is succeeding. It's a nice narrative, but with Daley the bigger name, the concerted effort is for him to win and bring a justification for the exposure he gets.

The impression is that British diving put all its eggs in one basket with the 22-year-old as he emerged and now all those around Daley are just picking up the scraps.

By taking home two medals in Rio, Laugher has done more for his sport than Daley ever will if he doesn't start turning those bronze medals into something more substantial. That's not to criticise what he has achieved—any podium finish at the Olympic Games should be cheered—but Daley doesn't deserve the attention he gets. It's Laugher and his fellow gold medallist, Mears.

Any young fans who have been inspired to take up diving after Rio will be chasing what the pair have. It's their success that will drive a generation and instill belief that Britain can achieve things.

Brands and PR offer nothing substantial. Behind the glitz and the carefully constructed messages, it's all just fluff. There isn't much else to back it up, which is why industries can eat themselves. With nothing to fall back on, there's only so far a brand can push itself before it gets found out.

#Silver! Stupendous #Diving sees @JackLaugher strike again in the 3M Springboard Final: his 2nd #Rio2016 medal! pic.twitter.com/4YDyPVCnLD

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 16, 2016

Daley still has to compete in the men's 10-meter individual event on Friday, so he can go some way to equalling what Laugher has so far achieved. That would be a big boost to him and the sport, but it's all about what ifs in this instance. Laugher is doing it and has done it, so where's his publicity?

It was once that we mentioned diving and Daley's name was the only thing that seemed marketable. On the back of the Rio Games and Laugher's achievements, that has to change.

When Team GB headed into the London 2012 Olympics, it was under the guise of being Britain's finest. "Our Greatest Team" was the marketing slogan to describe them, and it followed the athletes everywhere.

Jessica Ennis—she didn't have the double-barreled Ennis-Hill name back then—was the poster girl of British Olympic sport. Throughout the Olympic Park and the neighbouring Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, her image was inescapable. She was blazoned across buildings, in shop windows, on magazines—she was everywhere.

Now at Rio 2016, the clever marketing campaigns that back Team GB are calling on each and every Briton to "Bring on the Great." At the last count at the end of Day 10, Team GB's 41 Olympic medals in Rio show they are answering the call. With seven of them coming in the velodrome, there are few who are doing more for that slogan than Britain's cyclists.

Not a day passes in Rio that a British man or woman on a bike isn't blitzing the field before them. The latest cyclist to take a medal was Mark Cavendish, who claimed a silver in the men's omnium on Tuesday.

The moment Mark Cavendish ended his quest for an Olympic medal. #rio2016 omnium report: https://t.co/KbU78uQBWN https://t.co/O5h61Uwf9H

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 15, 2016

Throw into that the fact that Laura Trott is leading the women's omnium event at the halfway stage and Britian's cyclists are drumming home their superiority,and there is so much more to come.

Their opponents must be sick of the sight of them. There have been seven golds up for grabs so far in the velodrome, and God Save the Queen has been played out during the presentation of four of them. The others have been shared individually between China, Italy and the Netherlands.

Domination at that level is incredible. Indeed, it's almost unheard of for any British team. What makes the success at Rio all the more remarkable is that it's no flash in the pan, either. This is becoming the norm as British cyclists dominate the field.

In the past, British success has been about one-off moments in team events. Breaking it down into the individual countries that make up the union, England have only ever been football World Cup winners once, and it's been the same in rugby, for instance. The sustained glory just hasn't been there.

In Olympic cycling, it is. At London 2012, Team GB took home 12 medals. Eight of them were gold, with two apiece for silver and bronze. At Beijing 2008, it was 14 medals.

This is serious power, and it's consistent. These days it's become almost inevitable that Britain are going to defeat their rivals and take home the big prizes.

To be so dominant in a sport that demands so much of those who compete is testament to the coaches and the cyclists themselves. Doing it once is impressive enough, but this is three Olympics on the bounce now where Team GB have been the big power.

He's done it!@MarkCavendish has his Olympic medal! #Silver in the #omnium#BringOnTheGreat #rio2016 pic.twitter.com/FAubl8Mh23

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 15, 2016

That the other countries are left scrapping it out for the odd medal here and there just reinforces the point; where there's parity almost with the other competing nations, across the board, Britain are leading the way. They're creating a slipstream all off their own as they power forward.

What impressed about Cavendish's latest success was that it was on the road where he truly made his name. No stranger to the green jersey at the Tour de France, he's switched his focus to the track in a bid to win his first Olympic medal. And now he has.

It wasn't the gold that a man of Cavendish's stature would have liked, but silver still represents the success he is deserving of. For him to jump from one discipline to the next, Cavendish is a shining example for how British cycling continues to get it right. They leave a remarkable polish.

Sir Bradley Wiggins is another who has switched disciplines to win Team GB more medals at this Olympic Games. He made history with his team pursuit victory by becoming the first Brit to have won five Olympic gold medals in his career.

Throw in names such as Jason Kenny and Joanna Rowsell to those we have already mentioned, and we get the idea for what they represent. Team GB's cyclist are the galacticos of Rio.

Bring on the great, our greatest team. British cycling lives up to it all in every sense.

After all the questions and doubts, golf had its day at the 2016 Rio Games on Sunday, and it didn't disappoint.

Going right down to the last stroke, it was gripping entertainment as Team GB's Justin Rose narrowly saw off Henrik Stenson. The pair had been level at 15 under par heading into the 18th, but with Rose scoring a birdie and Swede Stenson a bogey, it proved enough for the Brit to seal a two-shot victory.

It makes Rose the first golf Olympic champion in over a century. Not since 1904 has the sport featured at the Games, and now that it's back, it seems foolish to have ever allowed it to go away.

Rio was treated to a rare sight at the Olympic Games. It was two of the biggest and most famous names in their sport going toe-to-toe for supremacy with the world watching.

The one and only #Olympics #Golf Champion, Mr @JustinRose99! #Rio2016 #Gold pic.twitter.com/BVea0KjYLY

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 14, 2016

Now, we're used to that across the board with all the Olympic sports. The Games are the pinnacle for so many of those who compete. But watching two massive figures in such a global sport has added to the depth of what these Games have to offer. Profile is everything, and golf has given that to the Olympics in 2016.

Had Rose's win been a certainty earlier in the day, we could be forgiven for allowing the focus to shift elsewhere. It would have felt like any other golf tournament outside of the majors. However, the Olympics really matters to golf and those who have taken part.

"That felt better than anything I've ever won. It was the best tournament I've ever done," Rose told BBC Sport just before he was presented with his gold medal—Britain's second on Day 9 where they ended up with an extra five in total added to their tally.

"Hopefully we've shown Brazil what golf is about. I'm glad it was close. Not for my nerves. For golf."

Indeed, it's the sense of drama and tension that has added to the game. Rose spoke of showing Brazil what golf is about; his performance and that of others has shown the Olympics what it's all about.

In this first week of competition, we saw something similar from rugby sevens. Like golf, the sport was new to the roster for Rio—although this was the first time sevens was ever an Olympic sport—and it captured the imagination.

Everything that sevens rugby is about was on show in Brazil. There were massive hits, phenomenal tries and no shortage of nail-biting action.

For Team GB's men, who won silver after losing to Fiji in the final, their route to contesting for gold was torture for their supporters. In the quarter-final, they drew 0-0 with Argentina and had to go to sudden death to decide a winner. In the semis, they narrowly defeated South Africa 7-5.

It was excellent. Watching sevens got the blood pumping and ensured there was no shortage of anxiety throughout the men's and women's competition.

Come the end of it all as Fiji claimed victory in the men's side of the draw and Australia for the women, rugby sevens felt very Olympian. It embodied everything we love about the Games and brought an added freshness to them. Witnessing something for the first time is special, and as sevens becomes more ingrained into the Olympic movement, we can only expect that to increase.

Both sevens and golf have made Rio feel unique. While the London Games carried a lot more swagger and panache, Rio is in the process of generating a new world feel about it. From the two new sports we've seen, the amount of history being made has all but hit the reset button.

It's as though the Olympics have remodelled themselves in the space of a week. The rule book from past years has been tossed; there are new heroes now, new powers in different sports where they were once considered minnows.

Take Team GB in gymnastics, where Max Whitlock won two golds within the space of an hour on Day 9, in the pommel horse and floor exercise. That was unheard of before for a British gymnast.

And here we are with sevens and golf at the heart of it all. The two newest sports on the roster are helping the Olympic Games innovate. They're making them feel relevant in 21st century, attracting new crowds.

What those two sports have done this week should send shock waves throughout the IOC's headquarters. Golf and rugby sevens have showed the Olympic power brokers that they can't be found to be resting on their laurels. They need to continue to push the boundaries and innovate in a world where, four years from now, technology and social trends would have changed significantly. That means the way we consume sport would have, too.

This is what writing history in your sport feels like! Congratulations @JustinRose99! So, so good! #Golf #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/7ZG4JMbMue

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 14, 2016

All sports must adapt with that, and as the IOC have learned by integrating golf and sevens, to attract new audiences and maintain interest, diversity is key.

When the Olympic Games land in Tokyo in 2020, we'll see baseball/softball, surfing, skateboarding, sports climbing and karate added. It hints that the IOC is getting the message.

For how they've helped change the Olympics in 2016, golf and sevens can't be ignored in helping deliver that.

Sir Mo Farah, anyone? Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill and Dame Laura Trott?

It wasn't quite London 2012, but Super Saturday at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro still lived up to its billing from a British perspective. The stars we wanted to perform all did, adding to Team GB's medal haul, which continues to grow with each day in Rio.

Come the end of Day 8, Great Britain had swelled their tally to 30 medals, made up of 10 golds, 13 silvers and 7 bronze. That's one more than at the same stage in 2012.

There were disappointments, notably long jumper Greg Rutherford only managing a bronze medal and not the gold he won he four years ago in London.

ICYMI: #Gold in the TP Final! @LauraTrott31 @jorowsellshand @elinorbarker @_katiearchibald #Rio2016 #BringOnTheGreat pic.twitter.com/mpenPRjvtQ

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 14, 2016

Mo Farah lived up to the hype, though, with a formidable performance in the 10,000-meter run to defend his Olympic title and earn his third Olympic gold medal.

Laura Trott also claimed her third Olympic gold when Team GB won the women's team pursuit, and we mustn't forget the eight men's rowers who also claimed Olympic gold, with the women winning a silver—they're first medal ever at the Olympics. In the pool, Britain also claimed silver in the men's 4x100-meter relay.

Completing a fine day for British sport, Ennis-Hill took silver in the heptathlon, being beaten to the gold by Belgian Nafissatou Thiam by just 35 points.

The Super Saturday sequel certainly lived up to it's billing at #Rio2016https://t.co/8wDfyGdVGE pic.twitter.com/UD0MNOukSC

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 14, 2016

For all the success Britain tasted on Super Saturday, it was the exploits of Farah, Trott and Ennis-Hill that really stood out. The trio are serial winners, and when we consider knights of the realm have been awarded their titles for much less, surely they are deserving.

Trott only turned 24 in April, but what she is doing for women's cycling continues to astonish. She is a phenomenal force in the saddle, continuing what the likes of Victoria Pendleton started in the velodrome.

Whereas Pendleton only won two golds in her career—yes, only—Trott's third on Saturday has allowed her to surpass her predecessor as the sport's poster girl. She arrived in Rio as half of Team GB's cycling power couple—Trott is engaged to Jason Kenny, a four-time Olympic gold medallist himself—with plenty of focus on what she could achieve.

#GBR's @Mo_Farah has a simple message for all the fans who supported him on his journey to #Gold #BringOnTheGreat pic.twitter.com/36uShnWBKr

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 14, 2016

Despite the glare of the spotlight, she continues to deliver. That's a testament to her ability as a cyclist and says so much about her mentality. Being so young, we've seen sports stars with lower profiles allow it to inflate their ego and damage performance.

Not Trott. She's all about substance and delivering when it matters. In Rio, she's doing this as part of an incredible team of cyclists.

If we're talking about substance, what Farah continues to achieve in long-distance running at the Olympics is outstanding. Eight years ago he didn't even qualify for the 10,000-meter final at the Beijing Olympics, yet here he is now, a three-time Olympic champion.

A third #rowing gold for GB today at #Rio2016! Read all about it here: https://t.co/Ye0LgzxNdu #BringOnTheGreat pic.twitter.com/0fpk3UNgtJ

— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 13, 2016

He still has the 5,000-meter run to come, so in the next few days we could be talking about a fourth gold medal.

Even before that race happens, Farah's exploits outstrip anything from Britain's finest track athletes. Lord Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett are the names that stand out in British athletics, and even they didn't win three Olympic golds.

It puts things into perspective where Farah stands in his sport. The fact he was tripped midway through this race and had to pick himself up and catch up to the leaders of the pack only adds to the fairytale.

There was still plenty more to do when he tumbled, but for most sportsmen, that would have knocked them off their stride; it would have eaten at their confidence and played tricks with the mind. Not Farah. If anything, his focus intensified.

Indeed, it wasn't until he crossed the line victorious that he noticed the bumps and bruises he had suffered while competing and could wince in the pain of it all.

As for Ennis-Hill, silver is one less than the gold she took in London, but the circumstances were different four years ago. Everything had been about London for her; even Team GB's build-up to the Games had circled around what she could achieve. Winning was expected.

The bar remained just as high this time, but it was more in hope than expectation. Since London, she has gotten married, become a mum and suffered a number of setbacks on her road to Rio. Competing the way she did, coming within a whisker of retaining her title, tells us everything we need to know about her.

Ennis-Hill is empowering women young and old throughout Britain. Just by reaching Rio, let alone taking silver, she proved how hard work and dedication to your craft can overcome barriers. Male or female, it's about the person when we look at Ennis-Hill, and that is changing mindsets.

She pushed back boundaries before 2012, and now at Rio, she continues to do the same. Ennis-Hill is a credit to British sport; she's one of the finest sportswomen Britain has ever produced.

The whole concept of a knighthood in the British honours system is to reward those who have been warriors in the union's name. Pre-modern times, that largely meant soldiers and army generals, politicians and diplomats who created an empire. In the 21st century, it's about those who maintain the British name.

Farah, Trott and Ennis-Hill have all done that, and they continue to do that. They're Britain's Olympic warriors, and they should be honoured as such.